Moroccan Spiced Black Bass

Fish, fish, fish, I love fish. I have fish almost every night for dinner. I recently bought some  Black Bass at the farmers market in Campbell, it was quite tasty.

The beauty of fish is that it can be cooked in so many different ways or methods. The key is just not overcooking and that's about the only thing you need to be concerned with.

I love different spices and picked up this great spice in a tube at Safeway, in the produce section.  It is Gourmet Garden Fresh Blends Moroccan.

 A serving is 3/4 of a teaspoon, and that is definitely enough. It is 10 calories, 1 gram carbs, .5 grams fat.

I heated a skillet then added a very small amount of coconut oil, you can use cooking spray if you prefer.

I pat the fish dry, then spread about 1/4 teaspoon Moroccan spice blend on one side of each filet, then seared it for a couple minutes in the pan. Before turning I spread another 1/4 teaspoon of the Moroccan spice blend on the uncooked side.

After I took the fish from the pan, I added about 1/2 cup water and scraped the stuck bits up off the pan and made a pan sauce. A little salt and pepper and poured that over the fish on the plate. 

I served it with Brussesls sprouts that I had quartered and steamed, then baked in a hot oven just until a little charred, some baked little dumpling squash and a couple lemon wedges.  

David even liked it!

The spice of life

Ah Spain!

My younger sister recently visited our brother who lives in Barcelona, he is an interpreter there. 

Of course I had my request for her to lug back in her suitcase.

Saffron and paprika, the spices of the gods.

Both of these can be expensive here. Finer grocery stores and specialty food stores carry the best, and when it comes to spices, only the best will do.

Do not confuse  your everyday Hungarian paprika with Spanish paprika, they are completely different spices and taste nothing alike, you cannot use them interchangeably.

Above I have one kilo of Agridulce (bittersweet) and Ahumado (smoked). I use this on vegetables, potatoes, fish, chicken, you name it.

Then is a nice big box containing 10 grams of saffron threads. This is a flavor that one must never live without.  In fact, tonight I am making risotto milanese, a heady rice dish fragrant with saffron.

Coming from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus, it takes 75,000 blossoms or 225,000 hand-picked stigmas to make a single pound which explains why it is the world’s most expensive spice.

According to Greek myth, handsome mortal Crocos fell in love with the beautiful nymph Smilax. But his favors were rebuffed by Smilax, and he was turned into a beautiful purple crocus flower. 

A native of the Mediterranean, saffron is now imported primarily from Spain, where Moslems had introduced it in the 8th century along with rice and sugar. Valencia coup (coupé meaning “to cut” off the yellow parts from the stigmas) saffron is generally considered the best, though Kashmir now rivals this reputation. Saffron is also cultivated in India, Turkey, China and Iran. 

My brother added the cassis as a gift, I will make a lovely sparkling wine cocktail with it. 

This came from a spice wholesaler in Barcelona. I discovered it during my first trip there many years ago. I told my brother we were off to buy saffron at the wholesaler and he said "No, no Kristy, there is no such place in all of Barcelona."  His friends all agreed, yet I insisted that I had the address, we were on a mission.

Off we went, and low and behold, arrived at an amazing spice wholesaler!

Here I am with my son, a four years ago at the same store. Those are bins of paprika behind us.

So how much did this cost? 36 Euros, or about $45.00. I am not going to factor in my sisters air flight and food, she was going anyway!